The Problem
Laptop theft has become a very common problem these days. Everyday, many laptops are being lost or stolen in the developed countries. With the increase in the number of laptop users, the number of laptop theft can only increase in the coming days. Losing a laptop PC is not just losing a valuable gadget but also you run the risk of losing your personal or business data. For big companies, this is like the worst nightmare- ending up sensitive information about business strategies in the wrong hand.
How it Works?
So, what you need to do is to become a member of LogMeIn and register your laptop. Then if you lose your laptop you have two options. Whenever, the thief logs into Internet by this laptop, your data will get encrypted or deleted and you can also tack down the IP number of the thief and hopefully the Police recover it. If you are worried that the thief may not log into Internet then you can set a schedule after which the data will be shredded.
Any loophole?
Well, the only problem is that suppose after stealing your laptop the thief does not log into Internet and within a few hours copy the entire data on your hard disk- then being a member of LogMeIn would not matter much. Of course, most thieves will not act this way unless they steal your laptop with the intention of stealing your sensitive data.
Any success story?
In the press release titled ‘LogMeIn to Add Crime Fighting to Remote Connectivity Repertoire’ I could find the following success story:
“LogMeIn as Crime Fighter
Even before these new features were introduced, LogMeIn users and law enforcement found the technology invaluable in solving cases of laptop theft.
"One of our employees had LogMeIn installed on a laptop that was stolen. The thieves later logged in and we saw them come online. We got the IP address of the PC, notified the police and, within days, they secured a warrant, apprehended the thief and recovered the laptop," Rich Anderson, CEO at Next Level Cafe, Inc. "The employee had his laptop back a week after it was taken."
"Many laptop owners don't write down their serial numbers, making recovery difficult. LogMeIn provides another tool for tracking down stolen computers," said Detective Celia Vargas with the Amarillo Police Department in Amarillo, Texas. In recent months, Detective Vargas and her staff had been investigating a theft ring off a local Interstate without many leads. With an IP address found by an IT department supporting one of the stolen laptops, she was able to call the Internet Service Provider, find a physical address where the laptop was located, and uncover five other stolen computers at the same time.”
Great! Isn’t it? And Computer Weekly wrote:
“The technology has also helped police in Texas prosecute a theft ring targeting government laptops.”
The price you have to pay:
I could not find any specific information about the price of this service in the website of LogMeIn. However, in a report of IT Week, Daniel Robinson has written:
“LogMeIn said the shredder tool will be offered separately from its remote control service, but may be offered as an upgrade to existing subscribers. The price has not been set, but is likely to be in the region of $5 to $12 (£3 to £7) per month.”
$12 a week? Isn’t a bit too much for most people? Well, may be it is but mainly rich businessmen and important persons will subscribe to this service. So, for them, it is quite affordable, isn’t it?
The Solution
Many tech security companies are trying to find a concrete solution to the problem. It seems that the best solution is coming from LogMeIn, Inc. According to a press release of the company:
“With its new Instant Shredding feature, LogMeIn users will have the option to preset files, folders, or the entire hard drive to be wiped clean based on either time idle, or with an alert on LogMeIn.com. When a computer goes missing, users simply activate the shredding feature and the next time the computer goes online, the selected files are completely removed. Or, if the user chooses, data can also be removed from a computer which has not been online for a preset period.”
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